Multan by-election: PPPP votes rise by 29pc, SIC 6pc: Fafen

ISLAMABAD: The FAFEN in its report on by-election in Multan NA-148 observed low turnout.

The by-election remained peaceful and well-organised amidst isolated instances of procedural irregularities mainly concerning polling day canvassing and results forms provision to polling agents and observers.

The FAFEN in its report observed if compared with general election, the voter turnout dropped by 38pc during by-election despite a 2pc increase in the registered voters.

There was a sharper decline in women’s turnout (39 percentage points) compared to men (36 percentage points). The number of invalid votes also registered a dramatic decline of 91pc, while margin of victory surged from 141 votes to 33,509 votes, likely due to contesting shifting from a three-way (PPPP, PMLN, PTI) race to a two-way (PPPP, PTI) contest.

The FAFEN report observed Pakisan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) vote share rose from 31pc to 60pc, while that of Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) candidate increased from 31pc to 37pc. However, vote share of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and JI’s slightly decreased.

The persisting polling day canvassing and isolated instances of procedural omissions and irregularities, particularly concerning the inadequate copies of result forms, lack of polling staff’s training, inadequate arrangements to protect voters’ secrecy, were observed during the polling process that otherwise remained peaceful and orderly.

The ballot counting process was transparent though not all legal requirements were met such as providing copies of Result of the Count and Ballot Paper Account to all of the polling agents and independent observers present at the polling station.

Around 95pc of the observed polling stations had party/candidate camps in their surroundings displaying banners and distributing voter chits and food. Party-supported vehicles provided voter transport at 76pc observed polling stations.

FAFEN observed despite a 2pc increase in the number of registered voters in the constituency, as many as 86,126 less voters turned out to polling stations during recent by-election as compared to GE-2024.

In percentage term, the voter turnout dropped from 53pc on February 8 to 32pc percent and May 19.

A gender-disaggregation of polled votes as noted on the Provisional Consolidated Statement of Result (Form-47) shows a sharper decline in the number of women who turned out to vote than the number of men. The votes polled by men declined from 132,318 to 84,485—36pc decline—while the votes polled by women from 97,189 to 58,896 between two elections—39pc decline.

The significant increase in the margin of victory might be attributed to changed nature of electoral contest.

The observers reported candidates or party-supported vehicles providing transport to the voters outside 76pc of observed polling stations. Both major contenders, PPPP and SIC, were observed to be indulging these violations widely whilst TLP and JI candidates’ camps and campaign materials were also seen, but at a limited scale.

Presiding officers were present at all polling stations before 8am and polling agents were afforded the opportunity to inspect empty ballot boxes prior to their sealing by polling officials. None of polling agents raised any objection to the pre-polling process at the observed polling stations.

Fourteen percent of interviewed presiding officers reported shortage of one or more items used during the electoral process.

Around 27pc polling officers and 22pc assistant presiding officers (APOs) at observed polling stations reported they did not receive training before being assigned to the election duty. The polling process inside the booths was largely compliant with the due process with isolated incidents of violations and irregularities.

Only 2pc of polling agents, 4pc of SIC and 1pc of PPPP expressed concerns on polling process during interviews with FAFEN observers.

The polling staff counted each candidate’s ballot piles only once at six percent of the polling stations.

Legally, it is mandatory to count ballots twice. At 39pc of polling stations, the polling staff counted the ballots thrice upon the request of the candidates’ agents.

The presiding officers did not provide a copy of the result of the count (Form-45) to the polling agents at 6pc of polling stations and to the observers at 24pc of the stations. Additionally, the FAFEN in its report observed Form-45 was not posted outside the polling station building at 33 percent of observed stations.